Once Upon a Time in China IV
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| Once Upon a Time in China IV | |
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 Once Upon a Time in China IV |
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| Directed by | Yuen Bun |
| Produced by | Ng See Yuen Tsui Hark |
| Written by | Tsui Hark Elsa Tang |
| Starring | Zhao Wen Zhou Max Mok |
| Cinematography | Arthur Wong |
| Editing by | Marco Mak |
| Release date(s) | 1994 |
| Country |  Hong Kong |
| Language | Cantonese |
| Preceded by | Once Upon a Time in China III |
| Followed by | Once Upon a Time in China V |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Once Upon a Time in China IV (traditional Chinese: 黃飛鴻之四王者之風) is a 1994 Hong Kong action film directed by Yuen Bun. The film stars Zhao Wen Zhou as legendary Chinese folk hero, Wong Fei Hung. It is the fourth film in the Once Upon a Time in China series.
In the previous three films, Tsui Hark had written and directed, though he only co-wrote Once Upon a Time in China IV. Other key absentees were Jet Li, who had played Wong and Rosamund Kwan who had played Aunt Yee (aka 13th Aunt) in the original trilogy.
[edit] Plot
The year is 1900 and Wong Fei Hung (played by Zhao Wenzhuo) and Leung Foon (the returning Max Mok) along with Wong's father and Club Foot face new enemies of China, this time in the form of German rivals and British forces, as well as the Red Lantern Society - a gang of women, who, like the White Lotus Cult from Once Upon a Time in China II, want to rid China of all foreigners. This time, 13th Aunt is substituted by her sister, Aunt May (aka 14th Aunt, played by Jean Wong) as Wong Fei Hung's love interest.
During a parade, the hosts, the Red Lantern Society, attacked a German church. Before things get too out of hand, Wong comes to the foreigners defence and as a result, is forced to confront the gang, who fight using rope weapons and ether-filled lanterns.
As the winner of the National Lion Dance competition, Wong was asked by a Chinese General to join him in representing China against The Eight-Nation Alliance in a World Lion Dance Competition. This Lion Dance Competition was actually symbolic of the Eight-Nation Alliance's challenge to the Chinese, and China need to win in order to save face and show their national strength. Since this was an international competition, instead of being limited to lion heads, various animal heads are used by the represented nations including dragon, centipede and eagle. However, since Wong was busy handling the Red Lantern Society as the competition started, the General's Dragon Dance Teams had to compete all by themselves. The competition turned out to be a brutal massacre, as the foreign contestants were using dirty tricks and schemes to ensure their victory, resulting even in the death of the general. Wong had no choice but to formally challenge the Eight-Nation Alliance, asking for a rematch. This time, Wong's teams had themselves better prepared, and finally won the match. Ironically, right after Wong Fei Hung's victory against the Foreign contestants, the Eight-Nation Alliance Army had invaded and took over Beijing, giving the Chinese the ultimate defeat. Even though he was able to give a powerful blow to the German General, greatly injuring him, Wong had no choice but to leave Beijing with his families back to Foshan, where they could think of their next plan.
[edit] Box office
The departure of Jet Li and the reduced input of Tsui Hark heavily affected the box office takings. However, this also allowed the film to be made with much lower budget. Despite many negative reviews it received, the fourth installment grossed HK $11,301,790[1], a return significant enough for the producers to go ahead with the next film in the franchise, Once Upon a Time in China V.
[edit] External links
- Wong Fei-hung zhi sei: Wang zhe zhi feng aka "Once Upon a Time in China IV" at the Internet Movie Database
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